COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio High School Athletic Association has revamped several sport administration responsibilities to better utilize staff and areas of expertise, OHSAA interim commissioner Dave Gray has announced.

The announcement comes after months of internal meetings that identified potential changes among administrators, while also clarifying duties for the OHSAA staff who assist those administrators in the day-to-day facilitation of those sports and tournament.

With the addition of lacrosse, the OHSAA now has more sanctioned sports (26) than full-time staff members (24). Those staff members serve 821 high schools and 895 7th-8th grade schools.

“We strongly believe that these changes will not only help our internal work flow and efficiency, but also better serve our member schools, too,” Gray said. “We have identified several ways in which our administrative staff can be better utilized in their areas of expertise, while also better defining the overall staff duties to meet the needs of our member schools, tournament managers and many others.”

The changes are mainly in the “team” sports, as Assistant Commissioner Jerry Snodgrass will take over four more sports, including field hockey, volleyball, ice hockey and lacrosse. He will also remain the administrator for soccer, basketball, baseball and softball. Of note, the OHSAA defines team sports as those in which teams advance on a bracket, while “individual” sports as those in which student-athletes can advance in the tournament regardless of his/her team’s placement.

Assistant Commissioner Beau Rugg will continue as the sport administrator for football and wrestling, while also overseeing the state’s officiating program that includes nearly 15,000 licensed officials.